The sofas and chairs in the common room obviously could not accommodate the entire Hufflepuff student body.
So, following the principle that if only a few people could have them, then nobody should, they were all turned into small round tables laden with food, leaving every Hufflepuff to stand throughout the meal.
But the little badgers wiped their mouths and said it was no big deal. They could not possibly try every kind of food while staying at one table anyway; they had needed to wander between tables from the start.
And they could eat more while standing!
That evening's feast was an internal Hufflepuff carnival. Somehow, several professors seemed to hear about it afterward as well. One day, while Professor Sprout was tending to Venomous Tentacula with Adam, she brought it up.
"You did wonderfully. Good food has the power to soothe people's hearts, and sweets can lift one's spirits even more, can't they?"
Professor Sprout gave Adam a box of assorted Honeydukes sweets. At the same time, she asked when his shop would open and said she would come by from time to time. She wanted to taste the pumpkin pies and candies that had earned such lavish praise from so many Hufflepuffs.
Hearing his Head of House say that, Adam's feelings were rather complicated--
Why did he suddenly feel as though he were playing a business simulation game? Reputation requirement met, special customer unlocked?
Before long, Adam discovered that Professor Sprout was apparently not the only special customer he had unlocked this time.
"Adam, Cedric just came looking for you. Was it..."
Uther entered the dormitory with a puzzled look, brushing past Cedric on his way in.
"He came to place orders for Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore."
Adam's expression was complicated too, but he soon refocused on the chess game before him.
"Queen, take the bishop."
After improving over this period of time, the pieces had enough faith in Adam's current chess skills. The White Queen swung her scepter and smashed the Black Bishop to pieces.
"The Chariot, fall back."
Klon gave the piece an order, then looked curiously at Bernard, who had returned with Uther.
"An owl package? What did you buy?"
"I didn't buy it. It's from my parents. I mentioned the troll incident in a letter before, so they sent me some things for protection."
Bernard opened the package, revealing its contents: two handguns, ten boxes of ammunition, and five grenades.
Adam took one look and his eyes immediately widened.
"Good heavens, Bernard, does your family deal in this kind of business?"
"I told you my parents are lawyers, but they know the people who sell this stuff pretty well. After all, there are sometimes some troublesome cases..."
Under Adam's complicated gaze, Bernard picked up a revolver and deftly loaded it.
"What is that?"
Klon had lost all interest in the chess game. He curiously looked at the item in Bernard's hand, casually picking up the round object from the package.
"A Muggle weapon. Probably about the same as a wizard's Killing Curse."
Bernard spoke carelessly, then glanced at Klon and added a warning.
"Don't touch the pin. That's a White Phosphorus Grenade."
"What?!" x4
Klon and Uther looked at Bernard in horror at the same time, and even Eugene jumped down from his bed.
Adam, meanwhile, stared in terror at Klon's hand and hurriedly, carefully snatched the White Phosphorus Grenade away from him.
The guns were one thing, but they could get their hands on something like this too? Just what kind of ruthless person did Bernard's parents know?
For a moment, the dormitory was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Bernard looked up at everyone in confusion.
"What is it?"
"Cough, Bernard, that comparison isn't quite right. These weapons can kill, but they're still different from the Killing Curse..."
Seeing everyone's reactions, Adam thought for a moment and understood where the problem lay. But then he realized something else was wrong.
"Come to think of it, how do you know about the Killing Curse?"
"I read about it in a book."
Bernard still had not realized what the problem was.
"A book? What book would mention the Killing Curse?"
Uther looked at him suspiciously.
"Uh... a book in the library."
Bernard shifted his gaze guiltily.
"Which book in the library?"
Eugene pressed.
"...Fine, I snuck into the Restricted Section and saw it there."
Bernard gave up trying to hide it.
"The Restricted Section? How did you get in?"
Klon's eyes lit up, only for Uther to jab him with an elbow.
That was not the point!
After thinking about it, Klon did spot another key point.
"Adam, then how do you know about the Killing Curse?!"
"Ah, well..."
"At first, Madam Pince wouldn't let me in, so I taught myself Alohomora and the Disillusionment Charm..."
Bernard also noticed that everyone's attitudes had become somewhat strange, so he told the truth.
"Hiss--"
Adam, who knew how difficult those two spells were, especially the Disillusionment Charm, drew in a sharp breath. Was Bernard's talent perhaps a little too ill-suited to Hufflepuff?
Still, out of concern for his safety, Adam kindly warned him.
"Bernard, many of the books in the Restricted Section carry vicious curses. You must be careful."
The moment he finished speaking, Adam noticed that the other three were looking at him differently too.
"Looks like we should explain the seriousness of the Unforgivable Curses to you two. I don't want to wake up one day and find that you aren't in your dormitory beds, but already in Azkaban."
Uther's face was solemn.
Eugene and Klon nodded in agreement.
"And the Restricted Section! How could you go somewhere so dangerous?"
Adam, who had not even had the chance to do anything bad yet had still become the subject of this lecture, said, "No, wait, listen to my explanation..."
After the explanation, Bernard rubbed his chin in sudden realization.
"So that's how it is... I can understand why the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse are Unforgivable Curses, but why is the Killing Curse one too? There must be plenty of spells that can kill people, right?"
"There are indeed many spells capable of killing people, but the Killing Curse can only kill. And for it to succeed, you need an extremely firm, clear intention to kill someone."
The moment Adam finished speaking, he found Uther and the others looking at him even more strangely.
"No, actually, I..."
Before Adam could explain, Uther patted him on the shoulder and sighed.
"Get Egyptian citizenship. If you ever end up being locked in Azkaban, I can ask my father to find a way to extradite you to Egypt."
Adam was speechless. "Thanks, but I don't think I'll need that."
Just as he had said, there were far too many spells that could kill. Compared to them, the Killing Curse was not even particularly efficient.
"Stop looking at me. Look at Bernard. I'm only rich in theoretical knowledge; that bag of his is far more criminally incriminating than anything I've got, okay?"
Especially the White Phosphorus Grenades!
Adam proceeded to educate his three roommates about white phosphorus munitions. The three roommates looked at Bernard, then looked at Adam.
"Are all you Muggles this terrifying?"
"What does that have to do with me?"
Adam protested with complete innocence.
"My parents only wanted me to be a little safer at school."
Bernard had been somewhat guilty at first, but then he straightened his back.
"Hasn't the matter of how that troll got into Hogwarts still not been cleared up? What if we run into danger again afterward? Handguns might not hurt a troll, but white phosphorus grenades should!"
"I'm a first-year who just enrolled. In my first term at Hogwarts, I already ran into something like a troll invasion. I was terrified! Can't I get some means of protecting myself?"
That was still no reason to be so absurdly well-armed, was it?!
Adam's hand smacked Bernard on the back.
"Brother, introduce me to that friend of your parents!"
Before you continue